Picture Perfect
by MusicallyWritten
Summary: A small and simple smile can mean a lot. When the one you like passes by you in the halls and gives you said curve of the mouth, your day is better knowing that for at least one second, they thought of you. -Mainly FujiOC, with others-
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 001:**

**Disclaimer: **Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Oujisama does not belong to me. Sadly.

**Bold is English. **Regular is Japanese.

* * *

"**Hopped off a plane at Tokyo, with a dream and a cardigan.**" I sung under my breath as I entered Baggage Claim. I looked over my shoulder to make sure that everyone was following. And of course, they weren't.

"**OH MY GOSH! IT'S SO BRIGHT OUTSIDE!**"

I sweatdropped. "**Miyuu, c'mon.**"

She sighed. "**Yes, Mommy**."(A/N: Miyuu is based off one of my friends. And yes, this particular friend hasn't called me by my first name [Last name, on rare occasion] for, well, two years? She calls me 'Mommy.' =_=")

"**Giselle?**"

My friend's deep green orbs made contact with my bright red ones. She then shifted her gaze towards a small, light brunette figure who seemed to be running frantically in circles.

"**Waiting for Kuni.**"

I yelled after her."**Kuni, come on!**"

She nearly jumped 10 feet in the air as she rushed towards us. "**Sorry. I got lost.**"

I couldn't mask the grin that appeared on my face. We literally just went through security and she lost us. Of course, she did. It's Kuni. "**Let's just get going.**"

"Hai!"

"**Your uncle's picking us up, right?**"

I scrunched my nose up in disgust. "**Are you guys sure? I mean, we could definitely get someone else…**"

"**JUST CALL HIM.**" All three of them stared me down.

"**Yeesh, I was just saying, calm down, calm down.**" I muttered as I pulled out my iPhone. (A/N: When in foreign countries, technically, your phone isn't supposed to work unless you have, like, a calling card. Or if you're going to pay for overseas fees. But… IT'S MY STORY, I DO WHAT I WANT.) I dialed the phone number that I called my cousin on only a few months ago.

And lo and behold, after three rings, my cousin is the one who answers.

"Moshi, moshi."

"**OH HAY DUR.**"

"…Who is this…?"

"It's your favorite cousin," I laughed. I then realized that we were talking in English the whole time we got off the plane… Maybe that's why I heard the airport people insult us without holding back…

"…I still don't know who this."

I was ready to wring his throat. "**Fool, it's Kaydence.**"

"Ah! Kayde-nee-chan!" His voice sounded much lighter. I knew he adored me. Maybe it's my charm, maybe my talents, maybe my wit… Or maybe it's because I buy him food whenever he wants. "You've arrived in Japan?"

"Yeah. My friends and I."

"You're going to Seishun Gakuen, ne?"

"Mmmhmm. But in order for that, we need to get to our place as soon as possible. So, if you could remind Oji-san that we need a ride…"

"Ah, hold on." I could hear his shuffling footsteps and suddenly there was a bell's ring that was reverberating in my ear. "Oi! Oyaji! Kayde-nee-chan needs a ride!"

The bell stopped, and there was a muffled voice of a middle-aged man.

"She said she already told you she needed a ride."

Then came the muffled reply.

"Just pick her up."

More muffled noises.

"I can't tell her you're not here. She can hear you on the phone."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Of course he wants to be difficult.

"JUST PICK HER UP!"

Now that, I could easily tell was Oba-chan. She threw something at Nanjiro-oji-san. I just knew it. Oba-chan is usually a very nice and calm woman, but when it comes to me, she likes to make sure I'm comfortable and at ease. She loves me. I mean, what can I do?

I'm freaking awesome.

Haha. No.

My cousin's voice returned back to the phone. "Alright, he's going."

"Are you going to accompany him on the ride?"

"Will you buy me food?"

"No."

"Then no."

"I'm rolling my eyes at you."

He chuckled. "Ah, that's the Kayde-nee-chan I know."

"I guess I'll see you at school, Chibisuke."

"Bye, Kayde-nee-chan."

"Bye, Ryoma-kun."

* * *

"Did you know that I actually have family that's going to our school?"

I stared at her. "I thought your extended family lived in Chiba?"

"They moved," Giselle smiled. She took in a deep breath. "Can you imagine we're back to our hometown?"

Giselle has been my friend since childhood. We grew up together in Tokyo, and moved to the states together. Our families are closely knit.

"Eh, you have family going to Seigaku too?" Miyuu's eyes widened.

"Wait, do _you_?"

Miyuu nodded fervently. "Yeah! One of my cousins!"

Giselle, Miyuu, and I then stared at Kuni, who was sipping a soda.

She looked back at us. "What?"

"Do _you_ have a family member that goes to Seigaku?"

Kuni shrugged. "Do you really think my parents would let me leave their sights unless they had someone watching over me? Even when I have freedom, I don't. It's not exactly fun…"

Giselle and I exchanged glances.

Kuni's parents were the strictest out of all of us. But I knew that her parents loved me. So, when I talked to them, I thought that I had sealed the deal for her to go on this student program.

She nodded. "I'm sorry."

Miyuu busted out laughing.

Giselle and I snapped our heads towards her. What the heck is she doing?

"I...I can't believe… that you think… this is your fault…" She said between laughs and slammed her hand on Kuni's back. Kuni nearly choked on her soda. Of course, Miyuu paid no attention. "It's all thanks to you that we're with our family! You know what _that_ means?"

I groaned.

All four of us then said the same thing at the same time.

"IT'S A SIGN!"

Of course, Giselle, Kuni, and I said it in a more mocking tone.

That didn't stop Miyuu. She stood up on the bench we were sitting on. "It's a sign that we should learn to become closer with a families! Create bonds!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Okay, that's actually pretty good."

"I was expecting something more along the lines of, 'It's a sign that we should dig eight holes and bury different family artifacts from our mothers' and fathers' side in order to create a stronger family tree,'" Giselle laughed.

I punched her arm.

She gripped it. "What?"

I nodded towards Miyuu, whose face was lit up with excitement. "Yes! GISELLE, I DIDN'T KNOW THAT YOU COULD READ THE SIGNS TOO!" Miyuu plopped back into her seat and grapped Giselle's hands. "Together, we could be the ultimate Sign-Reading Duo!"

"No, that's weird."

I laughed loudly.

Even if we're in a totally different country, nothing has changed.

* * *

"It's not my fault I ran over the bird! I mean, what was it doing in the middle of the road anyways?"

"THAT DOESN'T CHANGE ANYTHING!"

"Giselle," I waved her over, a sweatdrop formed at my head. "Don't argue with idiots. They'll bring you down to their level and beat you with experience."

Nanjiro-oji-san glared at me. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I coughed. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

He stood his ground for another minute before getting into his truck and slamming the door. The roar of his engine drowned out his curses aimed at me. I simply smiled and waved. "Bye, Nanjiro-oji-san! I love you!"

His face dropped into an, 'are-you-kidding-me?' look.

"Drive safe!"

He just shook his head and waved once.

"He loves me."

"Obviously." Giselle snorted. "Let's just get all the stuff into the house."

I turned around.

"Definitely different from America."

Flat roof, which was different than what I was expecting. I was expecting a more triangular roof. It was wooden, a deeper shade of brown, had a small balcony in the front, and there was a stone wall and a metal gate. There were multiple plants growing along the wall. There was one huge tree that was blocking most of the exterior of the house itself.

It was beautiful.

"How'd we score a house like this?" I questioned. I pulled my luggage at my side, walking towards our accomodations.

"You know Kuni's parents."

I chuckled. Of course. They wanted everything right for their little princess. "Yeah. They're probably having heart attacks right now."

Giselle and I both paused.

We knocked on wood.

"Alright! Well, let's get to it." Giselle grinned.

I smiled back. "A new beginning."

She swung the door open.

* * *

"Agh! How long does it take to unpack?" Miyuu yelled at me. "You shouldn't take so long! We're all already done!"

"Well, what are _you_ going to do about it?" I retorted as I knelt down to fold the rest of my clothes.  
"HELP YOU!"

"I DON'T WANT YOUR HANDS ALL OVER MY STUFF!"

Miyuu groaned in exasperation. "C'mon, Kayde. I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry, you loser."

She leaped onto my back and bit into my shoulder.

Sigh. A day in the life of me.

"Miyuu, I'm already used to that. You should learn to stop biting people. It's rude." I replied, unfazed.

"But… These are my only defense weapons." She leaped over me to show them pearly whites to me. They were sharp. "See?"

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, Miyuu. Why can't you just go out to eat yourself? It's only lunch time anyways. I can catch up later."

"We all know you're the only one with money."

I stood up and took my pile of neatly folded clothes with me. "That's not true, Giselle. Why don't you treat these girls to food?"

I placed my clothes within the drawers and faced them. Kuni's head popped into the doorway. "I wanna eat as a family."

She pouted and her dimple showed.

Ah frack.

"Fine," I waved them off.

Miyuu grinned widely and fist pumped. "YES! Kuni-chan's cuteness prevails!" She pinched Kuni's cheeks. Miyuu then ran out of the room.

"Freak," Kuni muttered as she rubbed the red away.

"YOU LOVE ME!"

Kuni's eyes widened. "Can she really hear this far?"

"WHAT?"

Kuni sweatdropped. "Ahah. Apparently not."

She walked out to the room right next to mine. She gets scared in the middle of the night sometimes, and I'm usually the one who's awake and she usually just curls up next to me and listens to me read to her.

Giselle laughed. "Ah, best friends, what can you do?"

Kuni and Miyuu have known each other since they were in diapers. The thing is, they're on completely different spectrums of society. Miyuu's family has struggled financially until they had moved to Texas where she met up with us. Luckily, her family stuck to their Japanese roots well. Her family owns a Japanese restaurant where we live. And she sleeps in the restaurant, the floor above, at least.

This is the first time that Miyuu's ever had a room to herself before.

Kuni's family, they're probably the closest things to billionaires that we know. They're strict on Kuni, but they do love her. Kuni just fails to see that sometimes. She's not spoiled. In fact, on the exterior, Kuni's family looks about as normal as anyone else. But that's until you find out that her family runs a company that is spread throughout America and Japan.

But Kuni and Miyuu have always gotten along. I mean, they fight. Like, all the time, too. But it's never anything serious. Miyuu always beat up anyone who tried to hurt Kuni. Miyuu is Kuni's protector. And that's how strong they've become as friends.

"They remind me of us."

Giselle's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Huh? How?"

Giselle smiled softly and just shook her head. "Nevermind."

I blinked. "Uh. Okay. So… how about dinner?"

"There's a café not too far from here."

"Sounds awesome."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 002:**

**Disclaimer: **Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Oujisama does not belong to me. Sadly.

**Bold is English. **Regular is Japanese.

* * *

"That was delicious~" Miyuu said in a sing-song voice. "Let's get dessert!"

I groaned. "C'mon, Miyuu. My wallet's crying right now."

"But… ice cream…"

Kuni giggled. "I'll buy you ice cream."

Miyuu dropped her head. The air was suddenly tense around her. I cleared my throat. She then raised her head quickly and put her hands up. "Ah, I'm not in the mood anymore. Let's just go home."

And at that moment, her stomach growled.

"How the heck are you still hungry?" Giselle asked pointedly, spoon in hand. She then exchanged a quick glance with me and I nodded. "I'll get you ice cream. Only because I owe you for the time that you bought me archery gloves."

Miyuu paused.

"Get up now, or I'll eat the ice cream in front of you." Giselle threatened.

Miyuu got out of the booth and followed Giselle towards the counter. I propped up my arm against the table and rested my face against it.

"Why doesn't Miyuu ever want to take money from me?"

I looked back at Kuni. I could tell she was clenching her fists underneath the table. She looked like she was about to cry. I sighed. "She doesn't like paying debts."

"But…"

"Ah, no buts." I grinned. Kuni looked up at me. Her glasses were fogging up. "You've already done a lot for her, and I know you feel obligated to pay her for all she's done for you. But hey, food can't replace a friend."

She sniffled.

"Let's get going, kiddo."

* * *

"**WAKEY, WAKEY, EGGS AND BACON, MOTHAF—**"

"**YOU BETTER NOT FINISH THAT SENTENCE, KUNI!**"

Ah, great.

I pulled my covers over my ears, but that didn't stop Kuni's trick of banging a wooden spoon against a pot from reaching my ears. "**Leave me alone. 5 more minutes. I beg of you.**"

She leaped onto my bed and poked my back with the wooden spoon.

She's suicidal. I just know it.

I used the whole weight of my body to force her onto the floor.

"**YOUCH.**"

My nose flared. "If you don't want to die, get out."

"See, that's the reason that Miyuu's Sleeping Beauty and you're the Beast." Kuni pointed out. "Both of you should really stop oversleeping."

A pillow to her face was my reply to that comment.

"GET OUT!"

She quickly scurried out the door.

I paused for a moment before realization.

"SLEEPING BEAUTY AND THE BEAST WERE FROM TWO TOTALLY DIFFERENT FAIRY TALES."

I saw Giselle's head pop in through the door frame. "**No chiz, Sherlock. Why don't you get up and get ready? It's already 7am.**"

I groaned. "**Doesn't school start at 8?**"

"**Don't you want to look pretty?**"

We stared at each other for a moment. Then bursted out laughing.

Like I'd choose my appearance over sleep.

"Seriously, though. Get ready."

I rolled my eyes. "I hate you all."

She grinned. "Miyuu's up and at 'em. She's about to go the café to buy some crepes. So, if you want some, you better get ready. 'Cause you do know that she will eat them all if you're not there to claim it."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Not like I ever eat breakfast anyway."

Giselle shook her head. "C'mon. Today should be the one exception."

"Why?"

"Because you're starting a new life."

* * *

Within an hour, I managed to tame back my tousled hair. When I went to visit the mirror once I got out of bed, it was a nest of black. If I stuck my hand in it, I'd probably lose my hand. It was Narnia. That was what it is.

Luckily, after my shower, it was easier to comb back and to untangle. I squeezed the excess water out of my hair with a towel and decided to let it air dry. Too lazy to blow dry it.

"You know, if you don't dry it completely now, you're going to have a wet spot on your butt."

I looked to my left to see Kuni standing in the doorway with her hands behind her back.

"My hair's down to my hips. Not my butt," I stuck my tongue out at her.

She waved off my comment. "Same thing."

I scoffed. "Did Miyuu already eat my breakfast?"

She laughed. "Yeah, of course she did." She then threw me the object that she was holding behind her back. "Luckily, I saved this for you."

A shiny, red Fuji apple. My favorite kind.

I took a bite out of and heard that satisfying crunch. "Mm, it's juicier than normal. And a little bit sweeter. It's more delicious."

She smiled. "That's good."

"IT'S A SIGN THAT YOU WILL MEET THE MAN OF YOUR DREAMS SOON! AND HE WILL BE A SWEET GUY AND BE LOOKIN' JUICY."

I could hear Giselle's voice from the kitchen. "Shut up, Miyuu."

Of course, she wasn't heard over Kuni's and my booming laughter.

* * *

"_This_ is Seishun Gakuen?" I raised an eyebrow.

"It looks…"

"Fancy."

We all nodded.

I pulled at my mint-green skirt and shifted uncomfortably. "This is disgusting. Why do we have to wear skirts? Can I just wear the boys' uniform?"

Giselle chuckled. "_I_ think you look absolutely adorable."

"You think I always look adorable."

"Exactly."

"We're here early," Miyuu interjected.

She was right. Whole place looked nearly deserted.

"I'm going to get my schedule," Giselle stated, and once she noticed me reaching for my camera in my backpack, she added, "And Kayde's."

"Hey, uh, do you guys think that we should use honorifics while we're at school? I mean, I know we're close and all, but, it's still kinda weird." Kuni said.

We all looked at each other before nodding in agreement.

I pointed at myself. "Kayde-chan or Kayde-nee-chan."

"Giselle-chan or Stryker-senpai."

"Eh? That's so formal!"

"It'd be nice to get some respect here, Miyuu-chan."

"Fine, fine. Miyuu-chan, it is." She looked at me. "You're going to be Kayde-oka-san, you know that, right?"

I laughed sheepishly. "I expected nothing less."

"Kuni-chan!"

"Ah, hai, Giselle-chan?"

"Eh, you're okay with Kuni-chan, ne?"

She nodded slowly. "I think so."

Miyuu laughed. "Eh, Kawaii Kuni!" She pinched Kuni's cheek. "Let's go get our schedules then take a walk around. We'll leave Kayde-chan alone so she can capture everything with her amazing photography skills."

I sweatdropped. "Yeah, okay."

Miyuu skipped towards the main building.

"Eh? Chotto matte, Miyuu-chan!"

* * *

I had found a peaceful place of scattered trees. The sakura was a vibrant pink with touches of white. It was absolutely breathtaking. A gentle breeze was brewing up, a few stray petals flowing with it. I held my camera up to my face. I zoomed my lens out to 18mm. Let it focus, and then…

_Click_.

"Kayde-nee-chan?"

I looked down to my right to see none other than my cousin, lazing around. He looked like he had just woken up.

I smiled. "Hey, Ryoma-kun."

I sat down next to him and he grabbed my camera instinctively. If it was anyone other than him, I would've tackled them to the ground. "Why do you like taking photos? There's nothing special about it."

I huffed. "It's good for memories. Plus, do you see how the sunlight light just captures—?"

"No."

I hung my head in defeat.

"Are you busy after school?"

I shook my head.

"As a celebration of your arrival, we should go out and—"

"Eat?"

"If you insist."

I rolled my eyes. I fell right into that one. "Alright, fine. I'll pay. Only if you tell me how amazing photography is."

"I admit, it's a powerful tool."

"You're only saying that because you know I have embarrassing photos of you."

"Of course."

I laughed. "Some things never change, Chibisuke."

His yellow cat-like eyes bore into mine. "Your eyes are red."

"No duh."

"That's weird. Demon."

"Your hair's green."

"So?"

"Vegetable."

He fumed.

"I stand corrected. _Steamed_ vegetable."

His elbow slammed into the side of my ribs, but that didn't stop me from laughing. We were comfortable together like this. But he usually isn't this open with me unless it's just the two of us.

More students started to pour in through the front gate.

Family time's over.

"Ah, I'll see you soon, Kayde-nee-chan."

"Peace out, Chibisuke."

* * *

I stood in the middle of the clearing of the trees. It was so nice and tranquil here. During lunch, I should probably bring the girls here and have a picnic or something.

At that moment, there was a burst of wind that circled around me, picking up any stray petals on the ground.

I grinned. Picture perfect.

But before I could even lift up my Nikon, I heard another shutter click. I immediately turned my head to the right, but I didn't see anyone there.

The freak?

I decided to dismiss it. But as soon as I lifted my camera…

The wind stopped and the petals fell to the ground.

I grumbled. "Of course it would."

* * *

"So, how was your photography session outside?"

I shrugged. "Okay, I guess."

"Catch anything amazing?"

"I was in the middle of clearing, and suddenly there was a flurry of gentle pinks and creamy whites around me. The petals were dancing. The trees were swaying along, and the emerald meadow was a nice contrast."

"Basically, everything was perfect."

I nodded.

"Can I see the photo?"

I shook my head. "I didn't take it."

"What?" Giselle's eyes widened. "Why not?"

"Something distracted me."

"I'm sorry. You're probably devastated."

I shrugged it off and placed my Nikon D3000 back into my bag. I looked down at my white watch. "Let's get going. Class'll start in 10 minutes."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 003:**

**Disclaimer: **Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Oujisama does not belong to me. Sadly.

**Bold is English. **Regular is Japanese.

* * *

"I'm guessing you're one of the new students from America?"

The woman standing before me was slightly older than what I was expecting, her chestnut brown hair pulled back into a high ponytail, leaving only two strands of hair as bangs. And she was wearing a pink sweat suit. Strange, strange sight.

"Uh… Yes."

"I'm Ryuzaki-sensei. I'm the Math teacher for the 3rd years."

"Nice to meet you," I bowed.

"Introduce yourself to the class," She motioned towards the people in front of me.

I smiled and waved shortly. "Konnichiwa minna! My name is Darcel, Kaydence. Please call me Kayde! I hope we can get along." I bowed once again.

Ryuzaki-sensei grinned big at me. "Go sit down to Tezuka Kunimitsu-san. Please raise your hand, Tezuka-san."

My eye twitched.

This guy didn't look like a junior high scholar. He looked like a teacher.

A scary teacher.

"H-hai…"

I walked hesitantly towards my seat.

"Ohayo, Tezuka-san."

"Hn."

Okay. Scared feeling gone. Not gonna be scared by some guy who doesn't know how to greet someone properly. Didn't even look at me. How rude.

"Turn to page 32 in your Algebra II book."

Ugh. Frack my life.

* * *

We were on the last Academic class of the morning, and that's English. Luckily, English is a breeze for me, so I decided to take a nap.

Until a book slammed against my desk, forcing me to bolt up in my seat. "**YES? Make I take your order?**"

The whole class stared at me like I was insane.

Man, people really need to stop waking me up so abruptly.

I rubbed my eyes and looked up at Takeshi-sensei, who was looming over me with his death glare.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Care to read a page from the English book you decided to drool all over?"

The class laughed. I sunk back into my seat.

"We're on page 24."

I flipped quickly to the page and began reading.

"**'****If youth, throughout all history, had a champion to stand up for it; to show a doubting world that a child can think; and, possibly, do it practically; you wouldn't constantly run across folks today who claim that "a child don't know anything." A child's brain starts functioning at birth; and has, amongst its many infant convolutions, thousands of dormant atoms, into which God has put a mystic possibility for noticing an adult's act, and figuring out its purport.**'" (A/N: This is the first paragraph of Gadsby by Ernest Vincent Wright. I never had the pleasure of reading the novel itself, although I have heard of it.)

I looked back up at Takeshi-sensei. He was nearly speechless. "I said page 24. Not page 34. That's for later on in the year."

"Oh."

But Takeshi-sensei regained his composure and smirked. "I do have a question though. What is strange about this story?"

"**It's Gadsby, right?**" I questioned. "**By Ernest Vincent Wright?**" But before Takeshi-sensei could reply, I added, "**The whole novel is written without the letter, 'e,' which is the most common letter in the English language, if I'm not mistaken.**"

Almost everyone's mouths dropped within the classroom. I sweatdropped and laughed sheepishly. "**I have a knack for riddles.**"

"**Ah, yes. Well. Good job.**" Takeshi-sensei muttered, walking back towards the front. "**Please pay attention next time.**" And resumed teaching.

I sighed in relief.

* * *

"Wow, so you basically owned your English teacher?"

I put my hands up in defense. "I didn't mean to!"

Miyuu laughed. "Ah, c'mon, I'm just kidding." She leaned back against one of the trees. "Man. An hour of free time, that's pretty cool, isn't it?"

"It's lunch, not lazy hour." Kuni said matter-of-factly, pointing her chopsticks directly at her. "I'm surprised you're not still eating."

Miyuu frowned. "I ran out of food. I had to sneak some between classes 'cause I can't stand to not snack." (A/N: My friend really does do this. And so do I. In class, we just eat. Because our teachers love us. ^_^)

I laughed. "It's gonna get harder. You should really learn to wait for lunchtime to eat. So that you don't get in trouble."

Miyuu scrunched her nose up. "But I get bored. When I get bored, I eat. Boredum goes away, I can focus in class."

"Where's Giselle?" Kuni interrupted.

"She's probably checking out the Archery range."

"They have Archery here?" Miyuu and Kuni yelled in unison.

"Yeesh!" Miyuu scratched the back of her neck. "So much more fancier than what we got. I mean, it was only in high school that we even had a pool. Now, they have one on here on a junior high campus? I mean, tennis courts, I understand. But this? This place is pretty cool."

Kuni added. "The student body also seems a lot smaller. I mean, I remember that the school that Kayde-chan was supposed to go to, there was 1,400 Freshmen alone." (A/N: That is true. I am in a class of 1,400 people. The school's population is almost at 4,000. It's insane. And annoying.)

"Yeah, more room here!" I stretched out my limbs. A question popped into my head. "Hey, whattaya guys doing for your two elective courses?"

"We're supposed to have one that's for us, and one that's P.E. related, right?" Miyuu asked. I nodded. "I asked the school if we could just walk around and see what they have before deciding."

I grinned. "Awesome. I'm actually curious to see what their music class is like. I'm kinda giddy right now."

"I heard they have a glee club."

"Ah, really?" I yelped in surprise. "That's awesome!"

"Yeah. I heard they try to sing popular English songs. But apparently, their pronunciation is horrible and the English teachers keep arguing with the Music teachers." Kuni sweatdropped. "And then the dance instructors are lazy."

Miyuu smirked at me. "Seems like your forte to fix, oka-san."

I pursed my lips. "Music, yeah. But… Dancing? I can only do a few things here and there. Nothing too extravagent though."

"But glee club is mostly about singing. Dancing? Not so much."

I groaned. "But that's what makes the performance so amazing."

"Wait," Kuni interjected. "Why are you worrying about your dancing skills? From what I remember, you were pretty awesome when our glee club back home performed. Miss Lead."

I shook my head. "Heck no. Adrenalin was rushing. That's it."

"Your version of 'Mercy,' was pretty banging." Miyuu threw in there, grabbing Kuni's soda and taking a sip of it.

Kuni nodded quickly. "You should definitely teach that to your class."

"My class?"

"What? Are you not doing glee club?"

"I don't know! Why don't I do photography or something?" I grumbled.

"Because photography is a club that meets every Wednesdays and Fridays after school, and sometimes, before school."

"Uh… Wait… So… Glee club isn't a club…?"

"No. It's a class."

I sighed in exasperation. "People don't know how to name classes. Why don't they just call it Chorus?"

"Ah, see! You're brilliant!"

"Shut up, Miyuu." I tapped my fingers against my leg. "How about… I do glee club if you guys do it too?"

"How about… you do glee club… And we watch?" Kuni grinned.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Whatever. At least that takes care of my Fine Arts credit."

"Actually, no." Miyuu smiled. "Apparently, glee club is PE credit."

I yelled out in sheer annoyance. "What the heck?"

"Well, I mean, back home, dance wasn't considered PE. It was considered a Fine Arts credit."

I muttered. "That's freaking stupid."

"At least you'll be able to join me for Orchestra, ne?" Miyuu grinned. "We'll be the violin/viola duo once again!"

"When were we _ever_ that? You always made fun of my viola."

"Yeah, because violins are so much better!"

"Our director even said that the viola is the most beautiful sounding instrument out of the whole Orchestra if played correctly."

"Yeah, but only when it's played correctly!" Miyuu retorted snidely.

"Do I not play it correctly?"

"…Shut up."

* * *

"So, it's been decided then?"

I nodded. "Orchestra and glee."

"Orchestra and track."

"Art and archery."

"Uhm…"

I chortled. "Of course it'll be Kuni-chan who can't make a decision."

"Shut up!" Her face became a deep red. "I dunno! I'm scared to do anything sports-related. You know how uncoordinated I am!"

"Then just do glee club with me."

"What…?"

"Do. Glee. Club. With. Me." I flicked her forehead.

"N-no, I'm just gonna slow you down…"

I pinched her nose. "C'mon, dude. I need someone anyways. A teacher needs an assistant. Don't leave me hanging. Plus, I'll be there to help you out."

"O-okay… But I don't have anything for Fine Arts…"

"Just do art with me," Giselle answered.

"But… I'm not good at art."

"Yeah, well, neither am I." Giselle chuckled. "That's the reason why we take classes. So that we can _become_ good, no?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Kuni trailed off.

"Then it's over! Mission: Choose Electives is a success!" Miyuu yelled.

* * *

**A/N**: Okay, so I'm noticing that people are reading my story, which, is surprising, considering how much work I've been putting into this. Which isn't a lot. Haha. This is a leisure story for me. But that doesn't mean I don't want it to be good. I know that I've had visitors that read it, and then just left. But… Guys, I wanna know why you guys left. I mean, I know that it's my story and I do what I want, and I'll do what I want, but I'd like input. I want to become a better writer, and that's not going to happen unless I get help.

I know my issues and maybe when I'm not so stressed out, I'll be able to write a good chapter. Well-written, and actually edited. But for now, this is what you guys get. And thankfully, I have people reading it.

The reason I've been giving such empty/filler chapters for this story is because I wanted you guys to have a taste of how the characters are and for you to decide whether or not they should be more developed and more in depth, or if they're fine the way they are. Should I get into more detail at once? Or should the details just pan out over the story? Are they _too_ perfect?

But just because I'm asking for your opinion doesn't mean I'll completely coincide with your request. I'll do what I decide is best for me and easier for me. But if it's a small tweak here and there, then it's fine. Completely rewriting a character, that's something that I can't do. Introducing a new one? I can do that.

I'd just like some help here. Please?

**SO PLEASE REVIEW!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 004:**

**Disclaimer: **Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Oujisama does not belong to me. Sadly.

**Bold is English. **Regular is Japanese.

* * *

_I see a little silhouetto of a man,_

_Scaramouche! Scaramouche! Will you do the fandango?_

_Thunderbolt and lightning, very very frightening me!_

_Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo – Figaro._

_MAGNIFICOOOOOO._

"**Hello?**"

"**Where are you?**"

"**I'm with my cousin at a McDonald's.**" I picked at burger in front of me while watching Ryoma scarf down food like there was no tomorrow.

"**You could've told us you were getting food,**" Miyuu whined.

"**I told Giselle. Thought she would've mentioned it to you.**" I dunked my spoon into my McFlurry and began to lick the M&Ms and vanilla goodness off. "**Do you want anything?**"

"**Nah, not in the mood for fast food. But thanks for the offer. I just called to ask you for help with Math.**"

"**Why don't you ask Giselle?**"

"**Uh, it seems that she's still at the Archery range.**"

I nearly choked on the ice cream. "**Are you serious?**"

"**Yeah. Is that a bad thing?**"

"**It usually means something's bothering her. Ah, I'll try to go to Seigaku and talk to her. Oh, by the way, how's school for you?**"

"**It's boring. As usual. Not much I can do. I'm in Class 8. Only person I know there is Momo-chan.**"

"**Momo? Like… 'peach'?**"

"**Oh. Yeah. Like 'peach.'**"

I laughed. I saw that Ryoma finished his food and was staring at me with an bored look on his face. He rested his face on his propped up hand. I stuck my tongue out at him and he smirked. "**I gotta go. My cousin's finished eating. I'll call you when I'm heading home.**"

"**Okay! Bye, Mommy!**"

I ended the call.

"Who was that?"

"Miyuu-chan," I clicked on my text messages and sent a quick, 'Are you okay?' to Giselle. I knew she wasn't, but her reply would tell me whether or not I should go to Seigaku to get her. "She was telling me about some person named Momo."

"Ah, Momo-senpai? A junior?"

I blinked. "Do you know them?"

"I played him in tennis today. Apparently he's one of the regulars."

"Did you give him a handicap?"

"Of course." He sipped his grape Fanta. "But he has an injured ankle, so, it's not as disrespectful."

"You could've tried."

He just smirked. "Yeah. I could've."

I sweatdropped. Same old cocky Ryoma.

_Is this the real life,_

_Is this just fantasy?_

I read the text Giselle sent.

I half-smiled. "Ah. Sorry, Chibisuke. I gotta go."

* * *

"You should stop working so hard."

Giselle shook her head fervently as she pulled another arrow and missed the bulls eye by a few inches. "AGH! What is the matter with me?"

I grabbed the bow from her hand. "Stop it. Calm down. Breathe."

She paced around in frustration, mumbling to herself.

"What happened?"

"I don't know what's wrong with me."

"I don't know what's wrong with you either," I replied in exasperation. "You gotta talk to me."

She fell down to the grass and took a fistful of hair in each hand. "Jacob's just being such a…—"

"Wait, Jacob?"

Giselle has been a relationship for the past, well, almost year. This guy is halfway across the world, and I thought I convinced her that it wasn't going to work. Plus, this guy is a douchebag who doesn't know how to treat Giselle. He's an artist, and whenever he painted a picture of her, he said it's beautiful because of his painting skills, but it's really beautiful because the subject is beautiful. That's all there is to it.

He's cheated on her before. But she doesn't want to believe me. And when she confronted him about, all he did was say, "Does it matter? I'm allowed to do what I want, right? You care about me, right? Plus, why would you even accuse me of such a thing? I thought you trusted me more!"

Such. A. Douche.

"And I just started to tell him about one of my classmates who I became friends with and he just started going off on me."

"Uh… Is this classmate a boy or a girl…?"

"…A boy…"

I sighed. "You know how Jacob is. He doesn't like—" I cut off and stared at her with wide eyes. Ah, I see.

She gave me a weirded out look. "Uh… what…?"

"The problem isn't Jacob."

"What? Yes, it is!"

"You're shrieking."

She sucked in a deep breath. "Jacob's the issue."

I grinned. "No, it's not. Who's this guy?"

"No one."

"What's his name?"

"Nobody."

"Ah, so you're in love with Odysseus?"

"I'm not in _love_."

"Okay, well, you do find this guy slightly attractive. And considering how frustrated you are, he's probably nothing like you. But you can't help but be intrigued by how charismatic he is. He's probably totally adorable and immature. But that's because all your past relationships have been with serious guys, and those have never turned out well. He probably introduced himself to you and was excited to meet you. Which caught you off guard because you're used to being the quiet kid in the class who does all her work."

Giselle glared at me.

"Oh, I am _so_ right." I laughed. "Do you sit by him?"

"Yeah."

I chuckled. "That's good."

"What? How is that good?"

"Calm down, woman. It just means that you'll probably open up more. He's going to make you. I hope you know that. And I hope you think twice before snapping at him because I know you're going to regret it."

"…Shut up."

"You know I'm right."

"Just. Shut. Up."

"I'm always right."

She picked herself off of the ground and stood toe-to-toe with me.

"Kaydence, you don't always have to be right, okay? Maybe you should just shove your knowledge down someone else's throat! You make mistakes! And you know it! I don't need your help, so why do you keep offering it to me? You should just get lost!"

She's losing herself.

"You know I can't get lost. I have an amazing sense of direction."

"WHY ARE YOU SO IRRITATING? YOU ALWAYS REPLY BACK WITH SUCH SARCASTIC AND DISMISSIVE AND SNIDE COMMENTS! CAN YOU EVER TAKE ANYTHING SERIOUSLY?"

I stared at her. "Is that really how you feel?"

"WOULD I SAY IT IF IT WASN'T? YOU KNOW, FOR BEING MY SO-CALLED BEST FRIEND FOR THESE PAST FEW YEARS, YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME!"

I shook my head. "Let's go home."

"NO! LET'S NOT! LET'S JUST YELL AT EACH OTHER UNTIL WE'RE BLUE IN THE FACE BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I FEEL LIKE DOING!"

I tapped my foot against the floor and she threw the arrows that were still strapped to her back at me. I caught it with a small, 'oof.' "Are you done?"

She breathed heavily for a moment until the redness in her cheeks drained away and the frazzleness left her hair. She scratched the back of her neck. "Uh… yeah. Sorry. I didn't—"

"I know, let's just get home. Miyuu and Kuni are probably worried."

* * *

Class 1 is probably the most boring class for third years.

I can't stand these people. Any of them. All the girls are staring at Tezuka. And all the boys are just doing… _nothing_. Where's the rowdyness? Why is everyone so quiet? And yet they have the need to talk about you under their breaths? Like how you're the weird one that screams English when woken up?

I hate teenagers.

I slumped back in my seat and continued onto my doodles.

After the 23rd one, I decided to show off my artwork to Tezuka. "Ne, ne. Tezuka-san, look!" I half-whispered.

I saw the corner of his eye twitch. At last, I get a response.

They were all chibi versions of Tezuka.

"Please be serious."

Really. That's it?

"Okay, Mr. Majime," I mumbled under my breath.

These people seriously don't know how to take a joke.

* * *

Voices were floating all around me.

"I think she's still asleep." A girl stated, with a bit of fear in her voice. "Maybe we shouldn't wake her up in case she yells in English at us."

"I think she's drooling on her notebook." Another girl said with a tone of disgust. "Why doesn't she close her mouth?"

"Just leave her here." A boy scoffed.

"Hey, you guys can go." Another boy interjected.

The original three people shuffled out the room.

"Kayde-san…?"

I lifted my head slowly. "Hmm?" I stretched my limbs. "Is it lunch time?"

The boy who woke me up. Ah, he's the only one who smiled at me when I introduced myself to the class. Agh, and I can't remember his name to save the life of me. My one potential friend, and I got nothing.

"Oishi, Shuichiro." He smiled and bowed slightly. "We never really met."

"Ah," I nodded. "Kayde. Eh, Kayde-chan. San isn't really my style."

"Well, okay, Kayde-chan." He smiled.

"Ah, you have a nice smile," I commented.

He chuckled sheepishly. "Really?"

"Mmhmm. And a weird haircut. I mean, it's like… your hair looks like a cap. And then you have like, two random bangs that stick out. And your bangs aren't exactly banging."

Did I really just say that?

He smiled lightly. "Ah, well, if we're being honest here, your hair isn't exciting like mine. Black. Straight across bangs. Long hair. Boooring."

I busted out laughing. "Aw, man! You got me!"

He chuckled right along. "Are you busy this lunch time?"

What a strange question. "Uh… No?"

His face became slightly pink. "No, it's just, you're a new student and all, I just thought I could show you what our school's famous for."

"Ah, tennis?"

"Oh, you already know?"

"My cousin's in tennis. You should watch out for him. He's pretty good. But, eh, I really shouldn't say anything considering I don't know anything about tennis…" I shrugged. "But from what I heard, he's pretty good."

"Ah, he should join the tennis team."

"Trust me, he will."

* * *

"**FREEDOM!**"

"Eh, Kayde-chan! You left your bag!"

I did a 180 to see Oishi-kun with my stuff. I ran back towards him to get it, but before I could even reach out to get it, he says, "I'll give it back to you after you watch tennis practice."

"EH? Why?" I whined. "Tennis so boring!"

He sweatdropped. "Just come out and see. You could see your cousin."

I contemplated for a moment. All Miyuu and Kuni do when they get home is watch TV, eat, and sleep. Giselle is probably practicing her archery. Maybe it'll be nice to stay outdoors for a while.

I grinned.

"Lead the way, Oishi-kun!"

* * *

"Th-they're here! The regulars!"

"Why are we here?" Miyuu grumbled. "Track is so much more interesting than this. All it is, is a yellow ball back and forth."

"All track is, is running."

"Shut up, will you?"

Kuni giggled. "_I _think it's nice to be outside for a change."

"Yes, thank you, Kuni." I glared at Miyuu who put her nose up in the air.

Oishi-kun's voice broke through the noise. "You guys go ahead and use the open courts until the Captain arrives, we want you to get used to the feel of the place."

"Eh, why is his hair so weird?" Miyuu questioned.

I chuckled. "It's a lot more interesting that we got."

"Sweet! That court over there's open! Let's play!"

I pulled a disgusted look as I saw what looked like a freshman with the worst taste in shirts. "Why is he so loud?"

"He's in my class," Kuni sighed.

Miyuu patted her shoulder. "It's okay."

Beams of yellow caught my eye on the court. All of them were hitting it straight into the basket. No matter where the ball was thrown at them. "Dang…"

"What?"

I nearly jumped 10 feet in the air. I turned quickly towards the voice. "Freaking A, Giselle. I thought you would be at Archery practice."

"They cancelled." She placed her stuff down. "Plus, one of my classmates said I should come and visit here."

"Who?"

"Eiji-san."

"My cousin?"

I turned to stare at Miyuu. She blinked. "Kikumaru, Eiji?" She pointed out the red head that was sporting one of the regular jackets.

I shifted my gaze to see Giselle. She paid no mind.

Ah, so _this_ is the boy.

"Your cousin is one of the regulars?"

"Ah, I guess?" She shrugged. "Not interested in tennis. Plus, I haven't really talked to him. He's lived in Japan. I've lived in the US."

I nodded slowly. "I see."

"Which one is _your_ cousin, Kayde-nee-chan?"

I placed my arm around Kuni and pointed out Ryoma. "The short one right there. The one who's not even five foot." (A/N: Ryoma's 4'11".)

"…I'm not close to five foot either, Kayde-nee-chan."

"Eh, really?"

"She's only 4'10"." Miyuu stated.

"Dang, you're short."

"Don't remind me."

"What about you, Kayde-chan?" Giselle chortled. "You're shorter than me. You're, what, 5'2"?"

"5'3"…and a half." I mumbled.

"_I'm_ the one that's 5'2"." Miyuu piped up.

"Ah, that's right."

"Damn. Too high." I looked back to see Oishi-kun lob a ball _way_ over the other guy's head. Headed towards Ryoma's direction.

Ah. Of course.

Ryoma hit it straight on and into the basket.

Freaking show off.

"Wow, he's so good…" Kuni's voice trailed off.

A light bulb lit over my head. I grinned.

Miyuu poked my side. "Whatever you're planning, I'm in."

I smiled evilly. "Good."

Back on the courts, Ryoma had that typical smirk plastered on his face. "It was easier than it looked."

"So it was you! Playin' me for a fool! There's no room for seventh graders, man!" Some random dude decided to grab Ryoma by the shirt.

Is this boy asking for a beating or what?

"Calm down, Kayde-chan," Giselle put her hand on my shoulder. "These people got it. They can handle it."

I huffed.

"Fighting on the court?"

Suddenly, all heads turned to what looked like the man of the hour.

Oh dang.

"B-buchou!"

Mr. Majime. Captain of the tennis team?

"You know the rules. Ten laps each."

"W…wait… He…"

"TWENTY LAPS!"

"Y-yes sir!"

"Dang, why so serious?" Miyuu scoffed.

"E-eto… M-Miyuu-chan…"

I looked back to Kuni, who was gripping onto Giselle's shirt.

"Eh? What is it, Kuni-chan?"

"That's _my_ cousin…"

If I could've done a spit-take, I would've. "How is that_ thing_ related to you? You're, like, the most adorable thing in the world."

"Yeah, and he's just… menacing…" Giselle sweatdropped.

"I can see it."

My eyes darted towards Miyuu, who was nodding her head. "Brunette. Brown eyes. Glasses. That's enough similarity in looks for _me_. And from what I can tell from his personality right now, he seems passionate about what he does. Just like little Kawaii Kuni-chan." She grinned.

Kuni smiled, still slightly cowering behind Giselle. "R-really…?"

"Hah! Heck no! He's freaking terrifying!"

The rest of us did an anime fall.

"Everybody start warming up! When you're finished, 8th and 9th get in the courts! 7th, get in position to pick up balls!" Mr. Majime ordered.

"Right!"

* * *

"Kayde-chan!"

I looked over my shoulder to see Oishi-kun with my bag.

"Finally!" I grinned widely as I grabbed it from his hand.

"Not so fast!" He grabbed right as I turned around to run. "I'd like to introduce you to the tennis regulars."

I mentally sighed and turned around again to see eight, well, giants in front of me. A vein throbbed in my forehead.

It's okay, Kaydence. You're not small. You just live in a big world.

"You already know our captain, Tezuka-buchou."

"Hi." I waved.

He nodded.

Can this guy get any more lame?

"This is Kikumaru, Eiji."

The bright-red head jumped towards me, a cat-like grin spread wide across his face. His blue eyes shining. "Hoi, hoi! What's your name?"

He really is the opposite of Giselle. "Ahah… Darcel, Kaydence…"

"Kady-chan! Kady-chan!" He took both of my hands and shook them fervently. "Such a cute name for a cute girl!"

"…Thank you…?"

Oishi just gave me an apologetic smile. Eiji leaped back into line with the rest of the regulars.

"This is Momoshiro, Takeshi."

"Yo!" The guy who Ryoma pummeled yesterday. Black, spiked up hair, purple eyes, and one of the bigger giants. How is this guy an eighth grader?

"Kaidou, Kaoru."

He just glared at me.

Well, rudeness runs in the team. His lips were pursed out slightly and his eyes were full of anger and seriousness.

"Nice to meet you…?" I half-smiled.

He grunted.

"Oi, Mamushi, be nice to the lady!" Momo gripped his shirt.

"Don't call me that!"

"NO FIGHTING!"

"Y-yes, buchou."

Oishi rubbed his temples lightly before continuing. "Inui, Sadaharu."

He was the tallest out of all of them. His black, slightly spiked hair might've helped with that. He simply pushed his glasses up, causing them to glint in the sunlight. He held a black notebook.

"Oh, are you a writer?"

He grinned. "Something like that."

Oishi sweatdropped. "Eheheh… Uh… This is Kawamura, Takashi."

This guy was tall too, and he looked a little bit shy. His sideburns, though. A little too weird for me. He had Elvis kind of hair. A light brunette with light brown eyes. Nothing too intriguing.

"And lastly, this is Fuji, Syusuke."

Light brown collar-length hair, a small smile plastered along his lips. It unnerved me a little. It was fake. But why did he smile? And secondly, why were his eyes closed?

He waved lightly. "Nice to meet you, Kaydence-san."

Aw. His voice. It's adorable. "Just call me, Kayde-chan, please. No senpai, san, just chan." I smiled widely. "Very nice to meet you."

He took my hand and shook it.

An immediate surge of electricity shot through my arm.

"Ah!" I jumped back. Fuji's expression became concern. "Ah, sorry. I think I got shocked." I laughed sheepishly, while scratching the back of my neck. "It's nothing to worry about, really."

The smile appeared back on his face.

"Well!" Oishi clapped his hands together. "These are the regulars of Seigaku. And please know that if you ever need anything, we'll be glad to help a new student. Be sure to tell your other friends as well!"

I nodded. Miyuu, Giselle, and Kuni left because they were tired and hungry. And thus, I waited for my bag. Alone. With no one to talk to. My friends are complete jerks.

"It's nice meeting you all."

* * *

**A/N: **AND THUS, KAYDENCE IS FINALLY INTRODUCED TO FUJI.

Finally.

Yeesh.

Review. kbai. ^_^


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 005:**

**Disclaimer: **Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Oujisama does not belong to me. Sadly.

**Bold is English. **Regular is Japanese.

* * *

**Miyuu's POV—**

"Are you related to Kikumaru-senpai?"

"You're Kikumaru-senpai's cousin, ne?"

"Kikumaru-sama is _soooo_ cool! Can you get me an autograph?"

"That's the acrobatic tennis player's relative?"

I tapped my pencil against the desk, a headache already starting to form. And class hasn't even started yet. "Yes, I'm Kikumaru-senpai's cousin. Obviously. We have the same last name."

A bunch of girls squealed and I resisted to urge to stab them in the eye with my pencil. I breathed in deeply. Calm down, Miyuu, calm down.

"Miyuuki-chan?"

"WHAT?"

"E-eh."

I opened my eyes to see a Momo with a terrified expression on his face. "A-ah, I'm sorry. Just… everyone's getting on my nerves."

He snickered. "Yeah, well, that's what you get for being related to one of the most famous people of this school."

I sunk down into my chair. "It's frustrating. We don't even talk."

"Eh, really?"

I nodded. "I lived in America my whole life and grew up in a complete Japanese home, but I had never visited Japan before this. So, I've never met Kikumaru-senpai."

"Ah, I see."

"I'm sorry, Momo-chan, what did you need?"

"I was just going to ask if you were going to stay after school to watch the tennis team again."

I shrugged. "It all depends on Kayde-chan. And considering we still haven't bought any groceries, we're probably going to eat out. And Kuni-chan doesn't like it when we eat separately. So, if Kayde-chan wants to stay and watch Ryoma-kun, then we'll wait."

"Ryoma-kun? Echizen, Ryoma?" He seemed taken aback.

I nodded. "Why? That's Kayde-chan's cousin."

"He's an amazing tennis player, is all," He mumbled.

"Momoshiro-san, in your seat!"

"H-hai, sensei!"

* * *

**Kuni's POV—**

"Tsuji-san!"

"Hai?"

"Please answer the questions!"

"Hai, sensei."

I stared at them for a few moments. "19, 5, 83, 24, and 176."

"Uh…" Sato-sensei stammered. "Have you already worked them out?"

"Hai. In my head, sir."

Everyone in the class turned to me like I was a freak.

I nervously gave a half-smile.

"Wow! Kuniko-chan is so smart!" Horio-kun shouted.

I shook my head immediately. "N-no… I'm not smart…"

We were all in advanced classes back in the US. Giselle studied the most. She would spend hours in her room, just re-teaching the material to herself over and over. Miyuu studied only for things she thought she needed. Kayde was always too lazy to study, but she was talented enough to get things quickly.

And I always made sure to study with all three of them, even if Kayde would just fall asleep on me. I wanted my grades to be perfect. Study hard, work hard. Then I will get far in life. And I won't need to rely on my money for having a successful future.

"Very good, Tsuji-san."

People were still staring.

"**Che. Show off.**"

I turned to my left to see Ryoma smirking at me.

"What…?"

"**You heard me. Show off.**"

I felt a vein throb in my forehead. "**Please, like you're one to talk.**"

All he did was smirk at me.

And suddenly my face became flustered.

Wait… am I angry…? No…

What is this?

* * *

**Giselle's POV—**

"Hoi, hoi, Giselle-chan, did you like our practice yesterday?"

I forced myself to keep a serious face. "It wasn't much of a show…"

Eiji pouted. "That's because you haven't seen us _really_ practice!"

My eye twitched. He's so freaking adorable.

"Ne, ne, why are you so serious?" He poked my cheek with a pencil. "You should smile more often. Pretty girls smile!"

And thus, my façade was broken.

"Like that!" He grinned widely.

"Saa… Kikumaru-san," Syusuke turned around to face us. "You should leave Stryker-san alone."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why so formal, Syusuke?"

"Eh, dropping honorifics so fast?" Eiji stared at me with wide eyes.

"Stryker-san is my cousin," Syusuke stated, clearing the air.

"It's Giselle," I corrected. "We're close enough to drop honorifics, no?"

"Mm, I guess." Syusuke replied, with that fake smile still on his face. "Kaa-san's wondering when you're going to come and visit."

"I'll visit when I'm not busy," I sighed. "I have three other girls to watch over, y'know. They're a hassle."

"I'm sure Darcel-san can care for them."

"Eh? You met her?"

Eiji interjected. "Yeah! Yesterday!"

I blinked. "Oh. That's interesting… What do you think of her?"

"She's quiet," Eiji declared, with his index finger in the air.

I nearly cracked up. "Ah, well, once you break her shell, you'll see that that's not the case."

"How long did it take for _you_ to break her shell?" Syusuke asked.

"We met when we were children," I shrugged. "It didn't take any time. She had no shell back then. But considering her now, it'll take a while."

"Is that so…" Syusuke trailed off, turning back around.

"Syusuke-kun sure is weird…" Eiji mumbled.

* * *

**Kayde's POV—**

"**I hate work, I hate school, I hate life~**" I sung under my breath. "**I'm gonna be a hobo when I grow up~**"

"Eh? What's that?"

I looked up to see Ryoma looming over me.

"It's a song that I'm going to teach to the glee club today."

"We have a glee club?"

I sweatdropped. "Yes, Chibisuke. We do."

"Is it in Japanese?"

I shook my head. "And that's the problem. I'm going to have them work on their enunciation. So, I'm starting out with a song that they should know."

I handed him the paper.

"'Baby' by Justin Bieber…?"

I shrugged. "It's a famous song."

"Are you guys ever going to perform?"

I shrugged. "It all depends."

"Who's even in the glee club?"

"Seven girls, not including me. And five guys."

"That's surprisingly a lot."

I nodded. "It's bigger than my group in the states."

"Your group won competitions, right?"

"Yeah."

"You were the leader then, too, right?"

I nodded.

"I'm expecting big things from Seigaku's glee club then."

* * *

"Alright, guys! Good job!"

"Thank you, Darcel-sensei!"

I shook my head and laughed. "No, just call me Kayde-chan."

Most of the class left, leaving only Kuni and I there. She wiped the sweat off her forehead. "This is surprisingly a lot of work."

I nodded. "Luckily, most of them are already good at English."

I turned around the face the huge mirror in front of me. This room was one of the older dance rehearsal rooms. But they decided to let us have it. Unfortunately, the mirror is one-way, so, there's another room connected to it, where people can sit and watch.

I'm the only one aware of this.

"I need to tape everyone."

Kuni shook her head. "They're not going to like that. I mean, I know _I'm_ nervous in front of a camera."

I raised my arms up in the air and stretched. "Yeah, well, we'll see."

* * *

"How was practice?" Miyuu asked, walking with us to the tennis courts.

"It was okay." Kuni replied, sipping her soda. "Just a little frustrated with the song choice." She glowered at me.

I chortled. "Come on. We can't just jump from no knowledge of show choir straight to something like Bohemian Rhapsody."

"Ah, but some of them _do _have experience with choir!" Kuni replied. "Amaya-chan's won a few singing competitions before!"

I nodded. "But she doesn't know how to step to save her life."

"Oh… Right… Then what about Haru-kun?"

"He has a great voice, but he's scared to show it off." I sighed. "I need a good, strong male lead."

"Like Jace back in the states?"

I froze.

"O-oh… Sorry, Kayde-chan…"

I shook my head. "No, it's alright."

"Oi, what's this?"

I looked to where Miyuu was pointing. Ryoma was standing there, and the guy who threatened him yesterday threw a wooden racket at him.

Ryoma always seems to get into trouble.

"That crummy old racket from the floor!" The freshman with the ugly shirted exclaimed.

"The strings are loose… The frame's rickety," A guy with a mushroom haircut continued. "Nobody can use this thing!"

"Except for Chibisuke," I muttered, gripping the fence in front of me. "He's going to be causing a lot of issues."

"You can say that again," Miyuu scoffed in agreement.

"What's wrong? Afraid to play me, 'Amazing 7th Grader?'"

"OI, RYOMA!" Everyone turned to me. "KICK THIS GUY'S ASS!"

"K-Kayde-chan," Kuni tapped my shoulder. "Please calm down."

"BEAT THIS GUY TO THE GROUND."

"Miyuu-chan," Kuni sweatdropped.

"Can't stand douche bags like that guy," Miyuu pursed her lips. "Your cousin's good at tennis?" She turned to me.

I smirked. "Eh, he's average."

I saw Eiji walk over towards us and opened the gate to the fence. "You guys want to watch up close and personal?"

I smiled. "Yeah, sure."

"Where's Giselle-chan?" Eiji searched back and forth.

"Probably at Archery practice," I replied.

"Aw," Eiji pouted. "I wanted her to come see me practice."

We walked back onto the courts and got a clear view of Ryoma vs. the eighth grade douche.

"Let's just play."

"Always been the serious one, Chibisuke," I chuckled out of earshot.

I heard someone laugh from behind and saw Fuji grinning. "I think I'm gonna watch for a while."

"I knew you were going to say that," Eiji frowned.

* * *

Standing side by side with Fuji, I finally decided to ask.

"Who is that guy anyways?"

"That's Arai-san," Fuji replied.

"Why is he such a jerk?"

He chuckled. "I guess your cousin provoked him."

I sighed. "Of course, he did."

"You talked so big earlier, now play big!" Arai exclaimed.

The ball flew over Arai's head.

"He's got no control at all!"

"Did you hear the sound of those strings?"

"Swinging normally is useless," Inui stated.

"Yup," Eiji agreed.

"With those strings, he can't put any spin on the ball."

"Che," I mumbled. C'mon, Chibisuke. What's taking you so long?

I saw Ryoma hitting the strings with his knuckles.

Ah. Finally.

"You got no chance!"

That is, until my brilliant cousin spun his entire body in order to put spin on the ball. "Now, _that's_ the Ryoma that I know."

"S-sugoi," Kuni mumbled.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. "He's single, you know."

"EH?"

Miyuu busted out laughing.

Kuni's face flustered into a deep red. I pinched her cheeks. "I wouldn't mind having you as a cousin-in-law."

"S-shut up…"

I merely snickered.

I looked back at Ryoma. He looked dissatisfied.

He returned the ball back with a pretty good force, causing Arai to miss.

"That's what you get, loser." Miyuu snickered. "Ey, your cousin's pretty good!" She poked my side. "Even _with_ that crappy racket!"

"The master painter… makes art with any brush."

I looked to my right at Fuji. His eyes were open.

My breath caught in my throat, and I stood there, not even being able to blink. But just as fast as they had opened, they were closed once again. He looked at me and smiled with that fake smile. "Ne, Kayde-chan?"

I simply nodded, while clearing my throat. I turned back to the match.

But I couldn't get the vision of his eyes out of my head.

They were gorgeous, and I had only seen them for a split second. A beautiful blend of aqua and cerulean. Just like the ocean.

I attempted to shake my head to clear it.

"Arai's so stupid… Embarrassing the eighth graders like that."

"Hey, Kaidoh."

"I'm going to the bathroom."

Ah, well, someone's pissed.

"Okay. I'm done warming up!" Ryoma announced.

"What?"

"The string's broken…" The mushroom head said.

"Oh well. You're not done yet, are you, Arai-senpai?" Ryoma smirked, with his hand in his pocket, looking all cool.

Freaking A, mayne.

Arai just laughed nervously. "H-haven't you had enough?"

"Nope!"

I piped up. "I suggest you leave Ryoma alone from now on."

Arai turned around to look straight at me, a look of anger and fear obvious on his face. Ooh, I made him mad.

"Ah, here comes Oishi-kun." Eiji pointed.

"Captain said for everyone to run laps!"

"H-hai!"

The seventh graders and eighth graders immediately got to it. Ryoma just stood there for a second, sighed, and walked out after them.

"Regulars, too!"

"Eh?" Eiji whined. "Why?"

"Tezuka-buchou said everyone."

"Saa… Can't fight the captain." Fuji smiled.

"Sayonara, Kady-chan!" Eiji exclaimed. "And Miyuu-chan!" He pinched her cheek and she scowled right back. "And freshman-chan!" He patted her head before running out after the group.

"Freshman-chan…?" Kuni mumbled.

"Saa… I guess until next time," Fuji waved at me.

"Bye, Fuji-san."

His eyes opened.

"Just Syusuke-kun's fine."

* * *

**A/N:** I'm squealing so hard in my head right now. Yee~


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 006:**

**Disclaimer: **Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Oujisama does not belong to me. Sadly.

**Bold is English. **Regular is Japanese.

* * *

"Sugoi! Ryoma-kun is doing really well!" Kuni clapped.

"Yeah, that munchkin's pretty good." Miyuu agreed.

"Oishi-kun," I addressed him. "If you don't mind, I'd like to keep you company."

He put his hands up and shook his head. "Ah, no. It's okay."

I shrugged and took the empty seat. "I have nothing else to do anyways. I'm stressed over the song I have to teach to the glee club. And the teacher's just slouching around doing nothing."

Miyuu sat down on my lap. "Yeah, I have nothing to do either."

Kuni sat on hers. "Me too."

"GET OFF OF ME."

They didn't budge.

Oishi sweatdropped. "What about your lunch?"

I shook my head. "Lost my appetite." I pushed Miyuu forward, causing Kuni to lurch into the table. Kuni glared at me, but didn't say anything.

"Block D, Echizen, Ryoma, 6-0."

I peered over Miyuu's shoulder. "Ah! Chibisuke!"

He stared at me blankly for a moment.

Miyuu stood up and patted Ryoma on the head three times. "You're pretty good, kid!"

He glowered at Miyuu, who paid no mind.

"Yeah, you're doing really well!" Kuni smiled.

"Can I go eat now?"

I chucked a marker at his head. "Don't be rude!"

He simply dodged the marker and waved me off. "I'll see you later, Darcel-senpai. And Miss Showoff," he smirked as he looked straight at Kuni, whose face became a deep red. He just walked away.

"I'm guessing he's in your class?" Miyuu asked.

She nodded. "I just answered a few questions in my head, and suddenly I'm the show off of the class."

"You're probably the smartest person in that class," I said. "Ryoma probably being a close second. If he wasn't lazy about academics."

"Like you."

I twitched. "I'm not lazy about academics."

"You fall asleep during class every single day."

"_Thank you,_ Oishi-kun." I pushed him. "Thank you for the help."

He laughed sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Kayde-chan! Kayde-chan!" I turned to see Amaya running towards me, her curly, blonde hair whipping behind her. "I have to ask you something!"

"Uh, yes?"

"Do you think I can suggest a song for us to do?"

"Ah, we just started working on one?" I raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"E-eto… I just… I think that we should do something a little more… exciting than the song that you chose…" She twiddled her thumbs.

"Ahah! See! Even _she_ thinks it's a stupid song!" Kuni pointed at me.

"I'm so sorry," I retorted, every word dripping with sarcasm.

"U-uhm…If you don't want to hear my suggestion… that's okay…" Amaya bit her lip. "It doesn't matter."

"Ah, no!" I put my hands up in defense. "I wanna hear it!"

"Let's do the song 'Mercy' by Duffy."

Kuni and I stared at her for a long while.

"E-eto… what?"

"Where did you hear that song from?" I questioned.

"U-uh… There's a video on YouTube that I searched 'glee club' and it was one of the top searches. They were a little bit older than us, but the main girl was around our age." She smiled. "It was kinda inspiring."

"Really? What did she look like?"

"Ah, I couldn't tell… They were all wearing, like, bandana masks."

"AHAHAH!" Miyuu cracked up. "It _is_ you!" She pointed at me.

Oishi and Amaya stared at her like she just walked out of an asylum.

"Kayde-chan had won a competition last year, using the song 'Mercy,'" Kuni explained. "I think the video you saw was of her."

"Eh? Really?" Amaya's smile grew and her eyes lit up.

I shrugged.

"I didn't know you could dance that well!"

I shrugged again.

"Your voice is amazing too!"

I shrugged again.

"Yeesh, you really don't know how to take compliments." Miyuu said with an exasperated tone. She turned to Oishi. "You should really see her perform. She's awesome."

"Oh, really?"

I shook my head.

"She's lying." Kuni grinned. "One day, we'll perform in the auditorium. Our teacher's trying to set it up."

I laughed. "Yeah, right. He's not doing a single thing."

"O-oh, actually…"

I turned back to Amaya.

"Suzuki-sensei already booked a date…"

"EH?"

* * *

"Suzuki-sensei—"

"I already booked it."

"We haven't had much practice."

"You have two weeks."

I wanted to strangle him. "Two weeks isn't enough, sensei."

He dismissed me with his hand. "You asked for a booking, and I got you one. Now, if you would please excuse me." He just walked right on out.

"Uh… Kayde-chan…?" Kuni placed her hand on my shoulder. "Please calm down. You're fuming. Your hair is frazzling."

I breathed in deeply. "Alright! Let's get to work!"

"We only have two weeks," Haru grimaced, the dread apparent in his onyx eyes. "We're not going to do well."

"Ah, come on, Haru-kun!" Midori, another boy with a grin always on his face and untameable green hair. "You gotta believe that we can do it!"

"Yeah, because Midori-kun is _always_ right," Reika, a raven-haired, cold green-eyed ninth grader, said.

"EY!"

All heads shot towards me.

"We can do this. I know we can." I stood in the front of the room. "All we need is to practice, and we can't waste any time just sitting on our butts, so I need everyone to get up."

Reika simply scoffed. "Make me."

I grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her up right to my face. "Do you _want_ to be here? Because I'm willing to kick you out."

A slight flicker of fear appeared in her eyes. She simply uncoiled herself from my grasp and walked back to stand next to Haru.

I smirked at the rest of the group, many of whose faces were paralyzed with terror. But they all stood with their heads held high.

"We can do this."

* * *

"**So, you made the team?**"

"**Yeah. Of course."**

"**Wow, I can feel your ego from all the way over here.**" I placed the cupcake tray into the oven. "**I was just calling to ask you if you wanted some cupcakes tomorrow. I'm making a batch of 36.**"

"**What kind?**"

"**It's white cake, but it's rainbow colored. With rainbow chip frosting. It's so freaking delicious,**" I swept up the icing with my finger from the carton. "**I can eat the icing by itself.**"

"**Why 36?**"

"**Because I live with 3 other people, there's 11 people in glee club, not including Kuni and I, there's 8 Seigaku regulars, and Inui-san, and I know that most of you won't take just one.**"

"**I call three.**"

"**Of course, you do.**"

"**IS THAT KAYDE'S FAMOUS CUPCAKES I SMELL?**" I heard Miyuu's voice from the doorway.

"**Ohp, gotta go, Chibisuke.**"

"**Bye.**"

Miyuu ran into the kitchen and waft the smell straight from the oven to her nose. "**Oh, how I love your cooking and baking. I'm glad that we finally went to the grocery store.**"

I nodded. "**I'm getting tired of to-go stuff.**"

"**Did you already cook dinner?**"

"**Yeah, it's on the table.**"

"**OOH, PASGHETTI!**"

"There's spaghetti?" Kuni walked into the kitchen, rubbing her eye. She was already tuckered out from today's practice, and had taken a nap. She was sporting one of the pajamas I had bought her for Christmas. They were Hello Kitty pajamas.

"AW!" I pinched her cheek and she pulled away quickly. "KAWAII KUNI!"

She rolled her eyes at me and went to get a plate from the cupboard. "Where's Giselle-chan?"

"Right here," Giselle walked in, with bandages up and down her arms.

My eyes grew wide. "What the heck happened?"

She shrugged. "Just working hard on Archery. They said I should take a break." She rolled her shoulder. "I've been putting to much stress on my body."

I sighed. "Go eat now, please."

"Yes, mother."

After cleaning up my baking supplies and waiting for my cupcakes to finish. I look back over at the girls. Miyuu stuffed her face with spaghetti, but made sure to have a napkin by her side so sauce wouldn't get everywhere. Kuni was twirling the pasta on her fork and ate between sentences. Giselle was just poking at the pasta.

"Giselle, can I talk to you?"

She looked up at me. She half-smiled. "Sorry… I'm just not hungry…"

I sighed. "Then come over here, I'll finish it for you."

She walked over to the island and placed her plate in front of me and walked out of the kitchen. We made eye contact for about a minute before she spoke up, "I'll, uh, we'll talk tomorrow. All of us."

Kuni pushed up her glasses and shook her head. Miyuuu piped up, "It's okay, Giselle-chan. You don't have to yet. Just do it when you're comfortable."

Giselle simply looked at her and laughed lightly. "Thanks."

"No problem." Miyuu grinned.

* * *

Thursday passes, and it's finally what we've been waiting for all this time.

Or at least Kuni.

"**IT'S FRIDAY, FRIDAY, GOTTA GET DOWN ON FRIDAY!**" Kuni's voice trailed all throughout the house. "**7AM WAKING UP IN THE MORNING, GOTTA GET DRESSED, GOTTA GO DOWNSTAIRS!**"

"**WE LIVE IN A ONE-FLOOR HOUSE, YOU IDIOT!**"

"**KAYDENCE REI DARCEL.**"

I groaned. "**Whaaaaaaat?**"

"**WAKE UP, SLEEPYHEAD!**" Kuni jumped right on top of me, causing me to shout out in pain. "**GOTTA GET READY FOR SCHOOL!**"

"**If Friday's so awesome, why does it feel like every other day?**" I groaned, pushing Kuni off the bed and propping myself up onto my elbows.

Kuni shrugged. "**Because… PARTYING AND PARTYING, YEAH!**"

"**Please get out.**"

"OKEI!"

* * *

"Why does my energy suddenly come back after class is over?" I jumped around Oishi-kun in a circle. "It's like, a miracle, or something."

"Or something." He laughed.

Overhead, I heard thunder booming in the sky. I looked out the window to see rain crashing down onto the earth, like thick ropes just pouring down. "Uh, are you going to be having practice in this rain?"

He blinked. "Uh, well, I guess not." He paused. "What's that?" He pointed at the large tupperware I was carrying.

"Oh! It's rainbow cupcakes!" I grinned. I took the lid off and handed him one. "It's delicious! Ah, just take the whole lot of them. I'm done with them anyways. You can give them to your teammates."

He blinked. "Uh… Okay."

An idea occurred to me in my head. "Doesn't photography club meet every Wednesday and Friday?"

"Yeah, their first meeting was this past Wednesday."

I facepalmed. "I knew I was forgetting something."

"Why? Are you interested in photography?"

I smiled. "It's just a side thing."

"I haven't really seen you do it."

I shrugged. "I haven't exactly had time to, but hopefully next week will be less busy. Plus, I can use my video camera to record the glee club to see how our performance is going from an audience's point of view."

"Photography meets in Class 6, by the way."

I smiled and gave Oishi a quick side hug before running off. "Thanks, Oishi-kun!"

"Oh wait, Kayde-chan!"

I stopped abruptly in my tracks and turned around. "Yes?"

"You should get two of these."

"Why?"

"One for you, and one for someone else."

"Eh? Who's the someone else?"

"One of the members of the team. I think he's going to the photography club today too."

"Oh, okay."

* * *

Running around the corner and I just so happened to slam into someone.

Of course. Only me. It's a rare chance. But with my luck, anything goes.

"Ow, ow, ow!" I grasped my head and attempted to push myself back onto my feet. "You should really watch where you're going!" I looked down at my shirt and saw icing all over my bow. Of course! I looked up, ready to go off on someone.

I blinked. "O-oh. Uh…"

"Saa, I'm sorry," Syusuke frowned. He extended his arm out to me and pulled me up. "I didn't think anybody would be running in the halls. My mistake."

I shook my head fervently. "Ah, no. It's mine. Sorry. I really shouldn't have been running. I was just trying to find Classroom 6."

"Oh, for the photography club?"

I stared up at him. There was a good four inch difference. "Uh, yeah?"

He pointed to the door right next to us. "This is it."

I looked up at the sign. Classroom 6. "Oh…" I blinked for a moment. "Wait, Syusuke-kun?"

"Yes?"

"Are you here for the photography club too?"

"Yes, I am."

"Oh, then, Oishi-kun said to give one of these cupcakes to you."

I handed him the one with the most icing.

"Ah, Oishi-san baked these?"

I shook my head. "I did. But, I gave the rest to him, and he said I would be seeing someone from the team here. So, I guess that's you."

He unwrapped it and took a bite. He licked the remaining icing off his lips. A smile returning, this time, it had some genuinity. "It's really delicious, Darcel-san."

"Just Kayde-chan's fine." I laughed. I could feel my face being slightly pink.

He popped the rest of the cupcake in his mouth. He looked at the other one in my hand. "Ah, are you going to eat that?"

I shook my head and handed it to him. "Do you want it?"

"Of course."

And he downed that one pretty quickly too.

Well, at least I know he likes my baking. I looked down at my outfit. "Well, I guess I'm gonna have to go clean this off."

"Would you like for me to wait for you?"

I shook my head. "No, it's okay."

"Really, it's no issue for me."

I shrugged. "If you say so."

* * *

"I do have to warn you, you might want to walk into the classroom as quickly as possible."

"Eh? Why? Do you have a fanclub or something?"

"Perhaps."

I shook my head. "I can handle them."

He simply chuckled and opened the door, he gestured for me to go first. And then he followed right after me. He whispered in my ear. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

And the blood came rushing into my face.

"AH! THERE HE IS!"

And then suddenly it's gone and I'm suffocating under a group of fangirls.

"Uh, can I get thr—?"

"SYUSUKE-SAMAAA!"

"OH, SYUSUKE-KUN, I KNEW YOU'D BE HERE! I KNOW THAT PHOTOGRAPHY IS ONE OF YOUR PASSIONS!"

"FUJI-SAN! DO YOU REMEMBER ME? I GAVE YOU CHOCOLATES LAST YEAR FOR VALENTINE'S! AND COOKIES ON CHRISTMAS!"

Goodness freaking gracious. Who are these people?

After a few pushing and shoving, I found myself, alive, out of the stampede. I took a few moments to catch my breath before limping towards the seat closest to the window. I grabbed my camera outside my bag and scanned it to see if any damage was done, luckily, the lens only needed a polish.

After wiping down my camera, I looked back at the door where the girls were still all over him. He gazed over at me, a pleading look on his face.

I snorted. Like I was going to help him.

Eventually, all the girls found their seats and he took the seat in front of me. Causing me to be surrounded by fangirls too.

"…I hate you…" I muttered under my breath.

"OI! DID YOU HEAR THIS GIRL? SHE SAID SHE HATED SYUSUKE-SAMA!"

All of them stood up and immediately I jumped on top of my desk with a notebook in hand, swinging aimlessly. "GET AWAAAY!"

"EVERYONE, PLEASE TAKE YOUR SEATS!"

I looked at the front of the room to see a woman with a tight, black, bun, a bony face, and thick framed glasses. These features made her look a lot older than she was, but she was probably middle aged.

All the fangirls sat down and I hesitantly took my seat as well.

I could feel their heated glares.

Syusuke turned around to smile apologetically.

Suddenly the glares went away, and all you could hear was the girls sigh dreamily. I rolled my eyes. These girls should really get lives.

"My name," The woman at the front began. "Is Mai-san. Please call me nothing else. I am the sponsor of the photography club, and I see we have a few new faces this year. A few first years, and well, a new third year."

All heads turned to me.

"Care to introduce yourself?"

I blinked and slowly stood up. "Uhm… My name is Darcel, Kaydence…"

"And what class are you in?"

"Year 3, Class 1."

"And where are you from?"

"Uh, I was born in Tokyo, raised here for a bit, then moved to New Jersey when I was 6. Lived there 'til I was 10. And then lived to Texas until now."

"Wow, so you're from America?"

I nodded.

"What's it like there?"

"Uh… Free…?" I attempted to joke.

The girls started whispering.

"Wow, she's dumb."

"Is that how all people from America are?"

"How stupid can she be?"

I clenched my fists and felt blood rushing to my face. I hung my head and could feel the tears coming on. I bit on the inside of my cheek. I hated it when this happened. I always make a fool of myself.

"I thought it was funny."

My head shot up to see Syusuke smiling. His eyes wide open.

Oh, his beautiful eyes.

And then all the embarrassment just disappeared.

* * *

**A/N: **Ending it here 'cause I lazeh~

REVIEW, PLEASSEEEEE.

The reason I'm writing a lot is because I'm trying to put as much chapters up before I go on my road trip back to my home state. (NEW JERSEY, BABAY.) And then we're gonna be in New York for a weekend, then hopefully we get to chill in South Carolina again or Florida.

And I dunno, I don't like to leave people hanging.

Although it only seems 3 people really read my stories. Haha.

THANK YOU ALL. I LOVE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU.

You three are my favorite people.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 007:**

**Disclaimer: **Prince of Tennis/Tennis no Oujisama does not belong to me. Sadly.

**Bold is English. **Regular is Japanese.

* * *

A fine cream fabric fell to my knees and easily flowed along with all of my movements. Intricately detailed lace sleeves hugged my arm from the shoulder to my elbow, the intricate embroidery dotted with small jewels. A black ribbon was tied loosely around my waist, a pretty bow showcasing in the front. My hair was tightly curled and pulled back into a messy bun, my thick, black bangs their usual side-swept style. Silver and black jewelry dangled down from my ears.

I smiled at my reflection in the full-body mirror. I wasn't the type of girl people would think loved dresses and heels and girly things, but oh how did I love them with a strong passion.

"Girl, why are you looking better than me at my own dinner?"

I saw Giselle's face in the mirror, smiling genuinely. She was wearing a plain navy blue dress with cap sleeves and an emerald choker wrapped around her neck. Her bangs were pulled back into a half-up half-down style, with her chestnut brown hair curled in perfect ringlets, nearly covering her navy hoops.

I grinned. "Why is my best friend so gorgeous?"

"Because I'm awesome, that's why." She scoffed. She grabbed a fake white rose clip from on top of the drawer. She walked over to me and placed it within my bun. "Perfect."

"Yeesh, someone looks like they're getting married." Miyuu snorted, carrying a large box with her. "Glad I'm not going to dinner with you."

I paused. "Wait. WHAT?"

Kuni walked in soon after. "Yeah. We weren't invited."

My eyes shot to Giselle who shrugged. "My family doesn't know about Miyuu and Kuni. Only about you and me, girl. You remember Yumiko? Yeah, she was asking how you were doing. And I suggested that you come to dinner."

I shifted uncomfortably. "So, it's just going to be us and your cousin, right?"

"Cousin_s_."

"Wait. What?"

"I have three cousins," She held up three fingers. "Yumiko, Yuuta, and well, you'll see." She winked. "It's a surprise."

My eye twitched. I looked over at Miyuu and Kuni who both had innocent smiles plastered along their lips.

"I love you, kaa-san." Miyuu waved, leaving the box in the room.

"Wait! Miyuu! What is this?!" I yelled after her. (A/N: The girls decided to drop honorifics since it felt weird.)

"Open it!"

I hesitantly sauntered over to the large box, and used my index finger to lightly lift up the flap and peeked in. I blinked slowly then opened the flaps completely. "Why the heck is there a cactus in here?"

"Giselle said that her cousin liked cactuses." Kuni answered.

"Cacti." I corrected.

"Yeah, whatever."

I shrugged. "A strange housewarming gift, but okay."

I felt a cool chain gather around my collarbone and clasp in the back. I looked down and saw the heart-shaped, silver locket that the girls had given me for my birthday nearly four years ago.

I half-smiled at Giselle and mouthed a thank you.

She nodded. "Yumiko should be picking us up soon. Are you ready?"

I breathed in deeply. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"So, how was your first week of Seigaku, Kaydence-san?"

"Just Kayde-chan's fine," I smiled at Yumiko. "It's been alright."

"She's just as adorable as she's always been." Yumiko turned to Giselle. "Hasn't lost any of that beauty."

"I know!" Giselle grinned widely. "She's so freaking cute!"

I blinked.

Totes awk.

Giselle turned back to me from the passenger seat. "All of my relatives react the same way to you. They all love you and think you're the cutest thing in the world. And I mean, _all_ of them."

I blinked again. "Why?"

"BECAUSE YOU ARE PERFECT!" She reached over and pinched my cheek and her and Yumiko giggled.

I sweatdropped. Giselle and her family has no shame…

* * *

Earlier today.

**Giselle's POV—**

_Buzzz._

I read the text message that Syusuke had sent me.

_My mom is asking if you want to have dinner at a fancy restaurant?_

I tapped my fingers against the kitchen table. Kayde came in, whistling up a fine tune. "**What's going on?**"

"**Nah, nothing.**" I traced the outline of my keyboard. She went over into the pantry and grabbed a mini bag of flaming hot Cheetos. "**Uh, I thought you hate spicy food?**"

"**I don't hate it.**" She shrugged and proceeded to the fridge where she pulled out two bottles of milk. "**I just can't handle it.**"

I smiled. She was too cute. I stared back at the screen and contemplated on how to reply. And thus, the most brilliant words popped into my head.

_You never really told me what you thought of Kayde._

Kayde sat in the seat in front of me and opened her bag and wrinkled her nose. "**I'm scared. I don't know if I should do this…**"

I laughed. "**Just eat the food.**"

She pulled out a smaller Cheeto and bit into it, a loud, satisfying crunch filling the empty air. And as soon as she swallowed, she ripped off the cap off of the milk and took two large gulps. She slammed the bottle down and fanned her tongue. "**I almost died.**"

I shot her an, 'are-you-kidding-me?' look.

My phone vibrated.

_I don't know much about her, but she's definitely a curiosity. _

I grinned. I know what _that_ meant. "**Hey, Kayde?**"

She was nearly panting and a few sweat beads trickled down the side of her face. "**Yeah?**"

"**You wanna go to dinner with me and my family?**"

She blinked. "**Uh… why?**"

I pouted. "**C'mon! I haven't seen my family in a while, and it'd be nice to have some support there. Plus, you already know Yumiko and Yoshiko-oba-san. They already love you!**"

She shifted in her seat. "**Uh… Only because you need someone there for you…**"

"**Okay, get ready!**" I stood up and pushed her out of her seat and ushered her out of the room. "**You have to dress nicely!**"

I walked back to the table, humming Here Comes the Bride under my breath. I can just picture Kayde in a white dress and who other by her side than my very own cousin. Ohohoho, this is going to be fun.

I picked up my phone and sent a quick text.

_She's coming with me._

I paused for a moment before sending another one.

_You're fluent in English, aren't you?_

I picked up the rest of Kayde's uneaten Cheetos and popped four in my mouth and chewed and swallowed with no problem. Hm. Not bad.

My phone vibrated.

_Okay. And, yes. Why?_

I walked out of the kitchen and through the hallway, returning the unopened bottle of milk back to the fridge and carrying the other one and the bag of Cheetos along my side.

_Assuming that I know you the way I know you, only a few people know that you know English, right? _

I turned to the right and opened Kayde's room. She was already in the shower. I walked towards her wardrobe, searching for the dress of the night.

_Only my family. And Tezuka._

I grinned.

_Perfect. Don't ever tell Kayde, okay? Let her figure it out on her own._

Only a few seconds later, did he reply.

_I don't know what you're planning, but as long as I'm entertained, I'm alright with whatever goes on._

I pulled out her only white dress and brought it over to my room to iron it. It was slightly wrinkled because of how she packed it. She only wore it on rare occasions. On special Mass days, like Easter, Christmas, New Years, etc.

(**A/N:** Kayde's Catholic. If you guys mind that, then please tell me. If not, then okay. But if you have issues with me putting in, like, scenarios of Kayde within the Church and stuff, then please tell me. I know that I probably should write what I want to, I just don't want anyone to be offended out there. I won't take any offense if it's uncomfortable for you. If I don't get any kind of message, then I'll write whatever. Giselle and Kuni are Catholic too. Miyuu's agnostic, but she attends Mass with them sometimes.)

I decided to send Syusuke one last text before I got ready.

_Wear a suit._

* * *

Present time.

**Kayde's POV—**

Ermahgerdness.

First thing I noticed when arriving to the venue was that most of the restaurant was outside. Then it was the metal barred roof that supported what seemed like millions of dimly-lit lanterns. A white umbrella peaked over each of the tables, which were shrouded with a soft, off-white cloth with golden trimmings on the end. The chairs were a similar white with gold armrests. The balcony that the tables were placed on was overlooking a beautiful lake where couples were going around in gondolas, a fountain in the center that shot water nearly 50 feet into the air and 20 feet wide, a light at the base that changed the color of the fountain every 30 seconds.

"This place is so beautiful!" I spun around with my arms spread out wide."

Giselle giggled. "I'm glad you enjoy it. This is one of Yumiko's favorite restaurants, right?"

She nodded. "I've had quite a few dates here."

My eyes twinkled. "Really? Were they romantic?"

"Ohoho, why, yes. The most romantic dates were here. Maybe one day, you can bring a guy here for a date." She winked.

I snorted. "Yeah, right. Like I'll ever get a date."

Giselle rolled her eyes. "The only reason you're undateable is because of your personality."

I blinked. "Wow, that really helped my self-esteem."

"I mean, it's because of how sarcastic and cynical you can be. And how depressing you can be. And how much you _don't_ talk about yourself."

I shrugged. "I'm not interesting."

"And whenever people talk to you, you always look like you're not paying attention. All you do is look everywhere _except_ for that person."

"But I am paying attention."

"But they don't know that!"

I waved her off. "We're not here to talk about my horrible socializing skills. We're here to have dinner, aren't we?"

She sweatdropped. "Is food the only thing on your mind?"

"Oh, honey. Food and I have had a wonderful relationship for 14 years."

Yumiko busted out laughing. "You're so cute!" She pinched my cheeks and immediately I thought about how much we did this to Kuni.

I should apologize to her.

...

Nah.

* * *

Giselle walked ahead and I trailed behind her. I stared up at where the lanterns were hanging, at different rope lengths. I've always wanted to light a lantern and let it go into the sky.

I saw out of the corner of my eye that Yumiko was already conversing with an older woman at a table, right near the edge of the balcony, merely feet away from the lake itself. All I could do was stare in awe in the beauty of the fountain. If only, if only I had brought my camera.

Giselle stopped in her tracks and I knew we had arrived at the table, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the lake. Not yet.

"Hello, Kaydence-san. I'm Yoshiko."

I drew my attention to the woman who had addressed me. She stood before me in a light lavender dress, with pearls as her accessories. "Ah, you can just call me Kayde-chan, Yoshiko-san." I bowed slightly. "It's nice to meet you."

She smiled. "Likewise."

I blinked for a moment.

Yoshiko had the same closed eyes as Syusuke.

And as soon as that name came into my mind, blood rushed to my cheeks. "U-u-umm. Thank you for inviting me to dinner."

She smiled. Now, that's a difference. Her smile was a lot more genuine than Syusuke's, laugh lines peeking through slightly.

I shook my head fervently to get the thought of Syusuke out of my head. I regained composure and noticed that they were all staring at me. "Ah. Sorry, just needed to… uh… clear my head?" I smiled sheepishly.

And then Giselle, Yumiko, and Yoshiko all had the same reaction.

"She's so cute!"

Someone cleared his throat.

I finally noticed the boy sitting down by Yumiko.

He waved at me. "I'm Yuuta."

I waved back. "Nice to meet you, Yuuta-san."

"Isn't she cute, Yuuta?" Giselle grinned.

Yuuta shrugged.

Giselle huffed. "Your brother probably has better taste than you." She pulled a few stray bangs and tucked them behind my ears. "She's adorable."

Yuuta sweatdropped.

"Where is he, anyways?" Yumiko pulled out her seat and sat down in it. The rest of us followed suit, Yumiko to the left of Yuuta, who was to the left of Yoshiko, who was to the left of Giselle, who was to the left of me, leaving the empty chair to my right. I stared at it. I wonder who the mystery guy was. Probably someone else with a first name that started with a 'Y'.

"He's in the restroom." Yuuta replied.

"Where's oji-san?" Giselle questioned.

"Work." Yoshiko answered, as she squeezed a lemon into her ice water. A waiter came by in a matter of seconds and placed our glasses of water in front of us. "But he sends his greetings."

Giselle nodded as she took a sip of her drink. She looked up and apparently saw something that caught her eye. "Ah, there he is!"

I trailed her line of sight to see the one and only…

Syusuke Fuji.

He waved at me. "Nice to see you again, Kayde-chan."

* * *

**A/N:** Alrighty, guys. Just, whatever. LOL. I'm in New York right now. A long ways from where I live now, but it's my home area. (Home state being Jerseeyyyyy.) So, I'm just gonna post what I have here, but it's really short, LOL. Sorry. Please review, guys.

AND I WROTE ALL OF THIS WHILE DRIVING IN THE CAR AND AT 4AM.

So, yeah. Just thought I'd tell you why everything sucks. LOL.

I just wanted to give you guys something while I was here. It's a bad chapter, so, I'm really sorry guys. D:

Oh, and I'm really not set on this story right now because I'm at a Conference to really put my faith on fire. YEAHWORSHIPYEAH. I just wanted to write because I was just in such a good mood and I love Prince of Tennis and I had nothing to do at night while I'm here, so I just wrote.

(I have no friends. ._.")


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